#alphabet soup tag

[neomel]

Hi sorry I need to do some more Pokemon posting bc this is the funniest shit. the cute-looking Pokèmon TCG series is making "TM10" part of its branding. Like, TM10 from the games - its the TM for the move Hidden Power, thats cute! Its reflecting the main character discovering herself in the same way the move works in the game, what a cute little detail!

Except uh. Just one problem.

Game Freak in all their brilliance removed Hidden Power from the franchise four years ago in Generation 8* and its still not able to be used in Scarlet and Violet. Its not just that you cant teach it to Pokèmon anymore, you straight up cannot use the attack even if you trade in Pokèmon from older games who know it. Its like a banned technique.

So then that begs the question – if the TCG show is gonna be referencing TM10 this much, but TM10 *isn't* Hidden Power anymore, surely that means TM10 is another similarly inspiring attack - Stored Power, or Calm Mind, or Smart Strike?

Well, depending on if its Gen 8 or 9, I hope the kids will have fun Discovering Their Own Magical Leaf and/or Discovering Their Own Ice Fang. Truly inspiring words. love how well managed this franchise is

[brother-emperors]

lucullus: you know what. this doesn't concern me.

After this [Crassus] collected sailing vessels, crossed into Africa, and joined Metellus Pius, an illustrious man, who had got together a considerable army. However, he remained there no long time, but after dissension with Metellus set out and joined Sulla.

-Plutarch, Crassus

⭐ places I’m at! bsky / pixiv / pillowfort /cohost / cara.app / tip jar!

[ky-the-squiddy]

Every so often I come across people going on about 'queer is a bad word, I'm not a terf but we shouldn't use that word in community/academic/etc settings, don't call me queer' and just

Okay

You're not queer

I won't call you that, no one should call you that, and anyone that does is being an asshole regardless of their identity or minority status. It doesn't matter what reasoning you have behind not wanting to be labelled as queer, what trauma you may or may not have, what you've identified as in the past and present, and whether or not your preference just comes to not liking the vibe of the word for entirely inscrutible reasons. No one has any right to pry.

If you say you're not queer, then you're not queer, and that's okay.

It just also means that if I, a queer person, talk about the queer community, then I'm not referring to you. If an academic refers to queer history and queer texts written by queer people about other queer people, they're also not talking about you. If a corporation starts using 'queer' in their ads then they can eat shit because fuck 'em, they have no fucking right to use our words when they aren't and have never been one of us, but if a well-meaning ally uses 'queer' as a one-syllable shorthand for LGBTQIA+ in a verbal conversation, then there's no reason for you to get any more annoyed at them as you would if they used the word 'gay' instead.

You have every single right to be labelled or not labelled as you like, and I will stand behind you all the way. If someone is trying to shove 'queer' on you when you really don't want it? Then I will happily, metaphorically, deck them in the face for you. We are still family, whatever you choose to call yourself, and it's important that we stick together.

But

If you aren't queer, and you get frustrated when you see queer people talking about the queer community, take a deep breath, and consider:

They aren't talking about you

[rorystr]

ive been losinf my shit at this really fucking stupid alex doodle i didnin class HES SO UGLY. HES SOOOO UGLY I HATE HIM!!!!!!! Aim LOSINGNMY MIND!!!!!!!

[crispycreambacon]

Hey here's a question I'd like to ask: why do LGBT+ people in stories NEED to have a romantic partner in order to be validated as good representation?

The value of gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, polysexual etc. characters and their representation is often through whether they get a girlfriend, a boyfriend, a partner, etc., and I feel like that's kind of a limited way to view representation, you know?

And when people think of representation, they almost always picture relationships which obviously is understandable, but then they forget about transgender people, and they forget about aromantic and asexual people who may not have any interest in relationships whatsoever.

Or if they don't, trans people are viewed in the value of being a good romantic or sexual – typically sexual – partner, and if they don't cater to those fantasies, they get degraded and tossed out. Aroace people are vilified for not wanting to have relationships and called inhuman. Whether intentional or not, we get excluded for not conforming to the norm of our identity being based on relationships.

I'm obviously not against having LGBT+ romances like hell yeah, but just like how straight people can go through their entire lives being single and still express their sexuality, we can go through our lives being single. And is that such a bad thing to show in stories?

I think being able to normalize singleness and not prop up romantic relationships as the ultimate endgame can really help with the acceptance of aromantic, asexual and aroace people more and in general bring less judgment and more acceptance for those who don't fit the mold within the community.

[melblur]

Finally feeling comfortable enough to call this somewhat definitive after a lotta back-and-fourth. This is my Topsters 25 favorite albums, made with the self-imposed restriction of only featuring one album per artist/band. (Not in any real order, just grouped for aesthetics)

Ofc please feel free to send me recommendations of any sort or ask about any of the choices - some of these were reallllly close calls between others from the artist/band's discography lol

List & short desc. below the cut:

Kara's Flowers - The Fourth World (1994)

Green Day - Saviors (2024)

Paramore (2013)

Arctic Monkeys - Favorite Worst Nightmare (2007)

Game Theory - Lolita Nation (1987)

underscores - Wallsocket (2023)

Radiohead - In Rainbows (2007)

Weezer - OK Human (2020)

Explosions in the Sky - The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place (2003)

Coldplay - Ghost Stories (2014)

Muse - The Resistance (2009)

Tribe Friday - Hemma (2023)

SiIvaGunner - RIP² (2023)

(t-t)b - Suporma (2021)

The Wannadies - Bagsy Me (1997)

Origami Angel - Somewhere City (2019)

Boards of Canada - The Campfire Headphase (2005)

Crying - Beyond the Fleeting Gales (2016)

Anamanaguchi - [USA] (2019)

Porter Robinson - Nurture (2021)

Hey, ily! - Psychokinetic Love Songs (2022)

Jamiroquai - Automaton (2017)

Kmoy - The Precure Album (2021)

Popsicle (1996)

Maroon 5 - Songs About Jane (2002)

[secretiveplotting]

Ima be real when i saw this at first i thought he was pregnant and i needed to step back for a moment

[pinksilvace]

puppetmaster's most beloved puppet

[valiantstarlights]

WIP Game

Tagged by the very talented @embroiderling 🥰 Thank you for tagging me! 🙇‍♀️

Rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

*stares in infinite WIPs* ...Okay then. 🫠 But I'm gonna have to limit my list to just the WIP files created/modified in 2024, or else we're gonna be here all day. 😂

TBG AU

Tants

Zest AU

Rarepair

Gym AU

Wedplan AU

Which hob (✅ Which Hob Gadling Are You? Quiz)

Enlightenment

Otherfather dream

68th

Back to the Start

Mafia AU

Spider AU

Library

Asoiaf

Vamp au

Dreamling pwp ideas

Fostering Abused Omegas

Pubtrans moltrain

Byron

Otome game au lordddd

Oyfqoufw

Vamphob and adopted son dream

Ghost au

Dreamling severance

1589 start

Scd prevention squad

Hflwaohfpufw

Weasel dream

Good gods. 🫢 So uh...yeah. I honestly don't even have the words to defend myself because I'm just as shocked as you are and twice as judgmental. 😂

Anyway, here's my January to August 2024 WIP list. ✨ Have fun browsing the titles, and feel free to ask me about any of them! 🥰

Note: Most of it is dreamling, with a couple of hobrintheus, and one rarepair. 😏

I'm not sure who else hasn't done this yet, and there's like 30 WIP titles up there, so...no pressure tagging anyone who wants to do this! 😊

[tinyjellyfishy]

[puppy back ride]

Pick up your local dog and do squats until one of you starts biting

[neomel]

im being illegal with my wii u. what are some Wii games that are worth playing but are too expensive (metroid prime trilogy, silent hill shattered memories etc)

[lightspren]

ah, hello, Hacking Cough And Lungs Seizing Mysteriously. I thought we were done seeing each other. i’d be glad if you would quietly go away again.

[adamsvanrhijn]

not sure which option on your poll this is BUT

i think oscar was agnes' final viable pregnancy. i think she'd had multiple children already (boys and girls) who were still living when oscar was born, as well as a handful of stillbirths/miscarriages. i think oscar would've been small and frail at birth, sickly and fussy during infancy, prone to colic etc, and they'd have sort of written him off as a lost cause who they'd inevitably end up burying. i think the other kids were all victims of one of those olden days illnesses (like sweating sickness and so on) that were super infectious and wiped out whole families regardless of class etc. pathetic little oscar was the sole survivor and agnes simultaneously worried over him 24/7 AND held him at arm's length due to grief (a "if i don't love him it'll hurt less when he dies too" sort of thing). i think she probably had a few pregnancies after him but none of them made it to term. i think mr van rhijn would have had a very loud opinion about that and her failure to provide him with children (other than a weak skinny excuse for a son). i also think he would've made a lot of remarks/comments about oscar and his perceived lack of masculinity, and oscar would've absorbed them all.

oh this drives me insaaane.... oscar being a little sickly baby boy......

i can't think of a way to say this that is polite to anyone involved but oscar essentially being the runt of the litter as it were is something that i have thought about a Lot & it definitely definitely allows for drilling down to. agnes is both babying the shit out of this child and also doing her best to keep all of her emotions out of it because of the Costs. of doing so. as you reference here.

and i feel like regardless of to what degree oscar was and was not meeting standards of masculinity for children and youth, there is simply no way that, Based On What We Know About Mr. Van Rhijn, agnes was not frequently being reminded of the fact that she has one (1) living son

i am sooooo interested in what if anything more we will learn about Specifically how oscar was raised and how agnes's marriage went for her, and what that means for where everyone is at in s2

thank you for sharing!!!!!!!

[rorystr]

Tigerstar entering the Dark Forest and spotting Thistleclaw, Thistleclaw approaches him and congratulates his apprentice for being something great. Tigerstar feels a hint of resentment and anger towards his old mentor, he wants to claw his fur off and rip his tail out but he cant explain why. Thistleclaw finishes his sentence and walks away as Tigerstar wonders why he couldn't say anything to him, why he hates being near him.

umm food for thought!

[crispycreambacon]

Why is it that people who consume media with lesbians tend to come out of it sobbing and irrevocably changed. Am I the only one who noticed that.

[melblur]

favorite word?

big fan of "amicable" recently.